Posted on 09/29/2004 9:23:57 PM PDT by Cedar
Indonesian Pastor Murdered During Church Service
26 yr old, Rev Susianty Tinulele of the GKST (Presbyterian Christian Church of Central Sulawesi) in Palu, was preaching from the pulpit at the 6.00 p.m. evening service last Sunday, July 18, when attackers sprayed her and the worship team with gunfire. Rev Susianty died instantly after being shot through the head. Four other worshippers were seriously wounded and were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has met with Christian leaders in Jakarta and sent National Police Chief, Dai Bachtiar, to Palu to personally supervise the investigation of Rev Susianty’s murder.
Desrianti Tengkede (17), a senior high school student, was one of the four others shot in the attack. Due to the seriousness of her injury and her condition in the hospital it was originally thought that she also had died. However she survived the attack and the family has received financial assistance from the national government for her to receive urgent medical treatment in Surabaya. She remains in a critical condition after being shot in her left eye.
According to witnesses at the scene there were five men involved in the attack. Two were on motorbikes and three were in a car parked on the street. It is assumed the assassins were able to hide their weapons in the car to avoid detection to and from the scene.
This act of terrorism was the culmination of a weekend of violence in Central Sulawesi in which a bomb exploded outside a cultural evening on Saturday night and a woman was killed after being stabbed 9 times in her chest and stomach in front of her home in Poso, also on Saturday night. The victim, Mrs. Helmy Tombiling, 35, was a well known Christian woman. A description of her attackers given by witnesses is very similar to the description of the killers at the Palu church the following evening.
This latest church attack in Palu is a tragic loss to the church in Palu. Rev Susianty was a gifted pastor and preacher and was an active supporter of the imprisoned pastor Rev Rinaldy Damanik, who is also a leader in the GKST church. Rev Damanik was wrongfully convicted on a charge of ‘carrying weapons’ and is serving a three year prison sentence in Palu. Rev Susianty had visited Rev Damanik on Friday and supplied him with food. It appears that supporters of Rev Damanik, church leaders of the GKST and their congregations may be being specifically targeted in these ‘ride by’ shootings and assassinations. On May 25 Ferry Silalahi a Christian lawyer, and part of Rev Damanik’s defense team was also shot to death as he and his wife left a house church meeting in Palu. Ferry was also one of the State prosecutors of 5 accused Muslim terrorists.
Reverend Rinaldy Damanik, speaking from prison in Palu said, “This was a well planned attack – very professional. It is not like previous jihad attacks.”
Mona Saroinsong of the GKST Crisis Centre is pressuring the government and local authorities to take the attacks more seriously. “Ultimately,” she says, “God will never close his eyes. The truth will prevail.”
VOM has agents at the scene of the attacks, aiding the local church as they are able.
I guess the MSM dismissed this story as un-newsworthy; after all, it was just a bunch of Christians who were murdered.
islam is on the move against christianity wherever it finds an opportunity to.
coming soon, all over the planet, if we don't deal with the islamosplosion of 50 million new jihadis a year via the birth canal.
we take out a few hundred.
they birth another 50 million.
we cannot win at this pace of 'retirement'.
"islam is on the move against christianity wherever it finds an opportunity to."
Very true.
These Christians are being killed just because they're Christians. True martyrs.
But at least we know they are happy in heaven, the REAL heaven.
Typical of the MSM.
So glad we have the internet to get the facts.
Cute! The pastor is in jail on weapons charges while the Muslims are mowing down the congregation with AK47's.
Right...and those weapon charges against the pastor were wrong to begin with.
"Rev Damanik was wrongfully convicted on a charge of ‘carrying weapons’ and is serving a three year prison sentence in Palu."
That pastor is a martyr.
We wouldn't want to stir up any (self-defensive) reactions. [/sarcasm]
Let me guess: adherents of the "religion of peace" were screaming "ALLAHU AKBAR" while they were firing their machineguns at unarmed church goers.
Yes, that's what we all need to keep in mind during this time of terrorism, wars, etc.....there is a final judgment for all.
Our part is to just keep following in His steps.
And don't forget about this one too from that 'religion of peace'.....
"This act of terrorism was the culmination of a weekend of violence in Central Sulawesi in which a bomb exploded outside a cultural evening on Saturday night and a woman was killed after being stabbed 9 times in her chest and stomach in front of her home in Poso, also on Saturday night. The victim, Mrs. Helmy Tombiling, 35, was a well known Christian woman."
If Abdul will pray, to a glowing crater.
It's simply amazing how pathetic the MSM has become as a source of our news --- they were so busy trying to keep the "humiliating" panties on heads of Iraqi thugs stories alive and missed a lot of far more important news.
That is some kind of eye-opening thread you have going.
Good job!
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